QUEEN’S PARK – Recently in the Legislative Assembly Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke MPP John Yakabuski re-introduced his Private Member’s Bill that will bring fundamental fairness to Ontario’s rural municipalities. The Gasoline Tax Fairness for All Act will ensure that all municipalities share in a portion of the gas tax they pay.
Currently, the Gasoline Tax Act only permits those municipalities that have a rapid transit or public transportation system to get a tax rebate. As a result, in 2014 only 96 out of 444 municipalities received money from the gas tax even though every resident in the province pays into it.
For years MPP Yakabuski has been advocating to amend the Act to ensure that all municipalities share in a portion of the gas tax. By making all municipalities eligible to receive a rebate the provincial government would be creating an equal playing field. The federal government currently distributes their portion of the gas tax to all municipalities; there is nothing stopping the province from distributing their rebates in a similar manner.
“I first introduced this Bill in recognition of the fact that rural municipalities depend on their roads and bridges as the only public transportation available to them, yet receive no gas tax funding” MPP Yakabuski said. “The longer the government takes to address the unfairness of the current funding model the larger the infrastructure problem becomes.”
MPP Yakabuski noted that there is nothing stopping Premier Wynne from distributing the gas tax rebate to all 444 Ontario municipalities now that she has her majority government. “We are about to begin pre-budget hearings in the province” concluded Yakabuski. “If the Premier earnestly wants to reach out to rural Ontario she can do so by making my PMB into a government bill.”
